Ace casually clapped his hands together.
"Alright, that wraps up our training!"
"Training?" Rias frowned. "What kind of training causes explosions that big?"
Ace glanced at the cracked ground, then at Sona's peerage taking a break.
"Our training."
"Huh?" Rias looked even more confused.
Before she could ask anything else, Grayfia quickly stepped forward and stood slightly in front of Rias, her posture clearly protective.
"Rias-sama, please step back a little."
Rias turned to her, puzzled. "Why, Grayfia?"
Grayfia stared in one direction, her expression serious.
"Because… there is a dragon here."
The area went silent.
"A dragon?" Rias repeated.
"What?!"
"Seriously?!"
Several members of Rias's peerage tensed up instinctively. Sona also turned her head, her face stiff.
"Where?" Rias asked quietly.
Grayfia raised her hand and pointed toward the edge of the field.
"Over there."
Everyone followed her finger.
There, Tohru was sitting casually beside Lala, legs crossed, looking bored while playing with the tip of her tail.
"…Her?" Rias blinked.
Tohru noticed the attention and frowned immediately.
"Hey. Why are you pointing like that, devil?"
The air around her trembled slightly as she stood up, clearly annoyed.
"If you're looking for trouble—"
"Eh, eh, wait!" Lala quickly hugged Tohru's arm.
"Calm down, Tohru. Don't get angry yet."
Tohru looked at Lala. "Fine. But only because you asked."
Ace then glanced at Rias and Grayfia.
"She's not a threat."
Grayfia remained cautious.
"You, a dragon is not a creature that can be taken lightly."
Ace shrugged.
"Yeah, dragons are big, so of course they're not light."
"..."
Everyone fell silent. Somewhere in the distance, a cricket chirped.
Ace suddenly felt embarrassed, covered his face with both hands, and crouched in a corner.
Lala walked over to him.
"It's okay, Ace. That joke was funny."
Ace looked up at her. "You really think so?"
Lala nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!"
Ace hugged her. "Lala! You're the only one who understands me!"
"Ahem. So, are you going to explain why there's a dragon here?" Grayfia asked.
Ace stood up.
"This dragon's name is Tohru. Since Lala invited her to my house, she's currently living with me… as a maid, I guess."
"A dragon maid?" Grayfia couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"Yes!" Ace replied.
"I see. Are you certain she won't attack?" Grayfia asked again.
"If you keep asking, I really will attack!" Tohru shouted.
Ace quickly calmed her down.
"Easy, Tohru. Yeah, she's safe. Unless she's attacked first. In that case, I'm not responsible."
Grayfia finally relaxed a little, though she stayed alert.
"As expected of the current wielder of Ankokuken Kurayami. Quite competent," she said.
Ace raised an eyebrow.
"You know me?"
"Of course," Grayfia replied flatly.
"Rias-sama asked about the Sword of Logos, so I explained it. From her description of a knight in purple armor, I was certain Ankokuken Kurayami had found a new wielder."
"But how did you know it was me?"
"Let's just say I'm fairly familiar with Kurayami."
"I see. Well, I guess it's not bad being known by the strongest queen."
Ace then turned toward Sona.
"Since training is over, we'll be heading home."
"Yes. Thank you for your help," Sona replied.
Just as Ace and the others were about to leave, Rias called out,
"Wait!"
Ace turned back. "What is it?"
"You said this was training, right? Could you train my peerage too?" Rias asked.
"Why not ask Grayfia-san instead?" Ace replied.
Rias bit her lip briefly before answering.
"Grayfia is busy. Lately my brother has been giving her a lot of work, and… I can't always rely on her."
Grayfia didn't deny it, only giving Rias a brief glance.
Ace nodded. "Okay, that makes sense."
Then he gave a faint grin. "But if I help, there'll be a price."
"A… price?" Rias repeated, clearly unprepared.
Ace stepped closer, his tone casual but his eyes serious.
"How about I spar with the Knight of Satan Lucifer?"
"Th-that—wait, I can't decide that on my own!"
"Relax," Ace said, raising a hand. "I'm not forcing you right now. Ask your brother first."
Rias took a breath and looked at him seriously.
"I'll ask him…"
"Before that," Ace tilted his head, "why do you suddenly want extra training?"
Rias went silent for a few seconds, her hands clenched at her sides.
"…Because I don't like my fiancé. Riser Phoenix."
"We're going to have a Rating Game," she continued.
"But Riser and his peerage… they're far stronger than us. If we go in like this, the outcome is obvious."
Ace looked at her for a moment, then asked lightly,
"How long until the Rating Game?"
"Two weeks."
"Hm." Ace nodded. "Where's the training location?"
"The Gremory mansion."
Ace glanced up at the sky as if calculating something.
"…Two weeks."
He muttered under his breath,
"Will I end up skipping school? Craftbot will tell my mom… As long as she doesn't find out, it should be fine. Besides, I'll be fighting Okita Souji, captain of the Shinsengumi. What's more important than that?"
"Huh? Is there a problem?" Rias asked.
"It's fine. But Rias, you know Issei has the Boosted Gear, right?" Ace asked.
"Yes, we know. Issei has already awakened it," Rias replied.
'So he still awakened it even without the Asia incident. Figures, the protagonist stays the protagonist,' Ace thought.
"I see. That's good," Ace said.
"As for training Issei, here's my suggestion. Build a large room where you can fire lots of arrows, then put Issei inside it so he can practice dodging."
"What?! Are you trying to kill me?! I'll turn into a pincushion!" Issei yelled.
"No, no," Ace said calmly.
"Replace the arrowheads with cloth soaked in red paint, and have Issei wear white clothes. That way you can clearly see how many arrows hit him."
"I see… but why does Issei need to learn dodging?" Akeno asked.
"Because attacking is easy. Dodging is hard," Ace replied.
"Issei's body isn't great at taking hits, so dodging suits him better. You can all practice dodging in there too."
"…Alright. We'll make it."
Ace turned around.
"Let me know as soon as possible. Two weeks isn't long."
He walked away with the others, leaving Rias standing there, watching his back.
Grayfia finally spoke.
"Rias-sama, are you sure it's alright to ask for his help?"
"Don't worry," Rias replied. "I know what I'm doing."
Ace and the others walked home, this time not through the Mirror World.
"Are you really going to help those devils?" Tohru asked.
Ace glanced at her.
"There's no downside. I also want to practice swordsmanship against someone as strong as Okita Souji... and Tohru, if you want to be a maid, you might want to learn from Grayfia-san."
"Hah! I don't need to learn from a devil! I can figure it out myself!" Tohru snapped back.
"It'd be easier if you had someone teaching you."
As they kept walking, Lala spoke up. "So you won't be going to school?" Lala asked.
"Yeah. I'll ask Ogami-sensei for permission to train for two weeks. He'll probably get mad, but I'll try to convince him," Ace said.
Since it was still early, they decided to hang out first.
They started at the shopping mall.
Lala walked ahead, eyes sparkling as she looked at every display. She stopped at almost every store, pointing at clothes, accessories, and strange items she found interesting. Ace just sighed and pulled out his wallet, already resigned.
Asia stayed beside Lala, smiling awkwardly whenever Lala asked for her opinion, while Tohru walked behind them with her hands folded like a proper maid, observing the passing crowd.
At a clothing store, Lala forced Ace to try on several casual outfits.
"This one looks good!"
"No."
"It does!"
Asia nodded in quiet agreement, and Ace eventually gave up.
"Humans are way too complicated over something as simple as cloth."
They moved on to the arcade.
Lala was immediately glued to the game machines, mashing buttons with excessive enthusiasm. Asia tried a claw machine, failing again and again until Ace subtly nudged the controls at the last second, making a small plush fall. Asia covered her mouth in surprise, then smiled brightly.
Tohru shattered the high score on a fighting game, then turned proudly.
"See? Easy."
At the food court, the four of them sat together.
Ace drank iced coffee, Asia slowly ate her ice cream, Lala sampled everything on the table like it was an experiment, and Tohru finished a huge portion without leaving a single crumb.
"This is good," Tohru said seriously. "You humans may live."
Finally, they walked through a park.
The sun was starting to set, the evening breeze cool. Lala walked hand in hand with Ace, Asia followed on the other side, and Tohru walked slightly behind them, her tail swaying lazily.
No battles. No grand plans. Just light laughter and unhurried steps on the way home.
They arrived at the house. "We're home!" they said at the same time.
"Welcome back," Craftbot's voice replied.
After a day of fun, they rested and waited for tomorrow to come.